Hamilton and Kovalainen lose five places

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton will start today's Malaysian Grand Prix eighth and ninth respectively after collecting five-place penalties for impeding rivals in qualifying.

Stewards had summoned the pair yesterday after complaints from Renault's Fernando Alonso and BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld.

A McLaren spokesman confirmed the penalty, which came after the stewards had deliberated for several hours at the Sepang circuit.

Heidfeld, who moves up from seventh to fifth, and Alonso, now seventh from ninth, both said they were held up at the end of the final session.

They were still on quick laps while others were slowing down to save fuel.

"In Q3 most of the cars were already very, very slow when I was on my flying lap, just like (they were) parked on the circuit," Heidfeld told Britain's ITV television after qualifying.

"The biggest fault was both of the McLarens in front of turn four, being in the middle of the racing line and I could not be on the line I wanted, especially for braking.

"I lost some time there and if you look at the times, they were very, very close. I think I lost two tenths which would be third place," added the German, who was second last weekend in Melbourne.

Kovalainen had qualified third with Hamilton fourth in a session completed before rain fell.